Effect of Varying Soil Moisture Regimes, Plant Population and Levels of Nitrogen on Maize

Abstract

Maize, an important Kharif crop, is grown as a rainfed crop in Udaipur region. But average yield of 959 kg/ha (Anon., 1968) in the predominantly maize growing area points to some lapses in our technique of manuring, seeding, optimum plant population and water management. While the crop responds remarkably to N, the degree of response is generally governed by plant population and water management practices, particularly in years of inadequate rainfall. Though the average rainfall of this region is about 70 cm, drought is of common occurrence. The experi- mental year coincided with an exceptionally dry year and data reported in this paper provide information on the extent to which the supplemental irrigation (irrigating crop at 50% available soil moisture) may be beneficial under varying plant population and levels of nitrogen under such a dry year. To obtain information on the modifying effect of plant population and supplemental irrigation, particularly late in the life cycle of maize, an experi- ment employing 2 levels of soil moisture, 3 levels of plant populations and 4 levels of N was planned. In the present paper an attempt has been made to highlight the role of supplemental irrigation on the response of maize to N which is a key factor in maize production.